Good content keeps the website alive and interactive among visitors. However, imagine a situation where your website is fully functional but lacks insightful content. On the same note, you have the content, but since you didn’t plan this earlier on, you cannot add the content seamlessly. In this case, all you need is to add a CMS (content management system) to the existing website and continue with the processes in a smooth manner.

We will share all the insights you need to know about CMS integration to a website, including the benefits, challenges, and step-by-step process, among other valuable insights.

What is CMS (Content management system)? Quick Overview

A CMS (content management system is simply an innovative platform or software system that enables website owners and users to create and organize digital seamlessly. It is more of a centralized point for content storage. The same platform also enables different users to manage content on the website.

Established businesses benefit a lot from a CMS, especially in fostering smooth collaboration between teams, saving costs, and general content management practices.

Types of Content Management System (CMS)

There are different types of CMS with diverse features, benefits, and limitations. It is vital to understand these different types of CMS to ensure you choose one that aligns with the vision of your business.

Below is a detailed description of six different types of CMS solutions that will enhance a seamless experience in your digital content management processes.

• DMS – Document Management System (DMS)

This delivers paperless solutions when storing, managing, and tracking documents in cloud storage. This CMS solution aims at replacing the traditional way of handling physical papers which can be complex and easy to lose valuable data on papers.

The DMS CMS has automated tools that simplify the processes of uploading, sharing, and processing business-related documents without the need to scan, copy, or print them.

The benefits or advantages of DMS CMS include the following:

• Mobile-friendly – with the DMS CMS, you can process all the document requirements, such as editing from anywhere, thus making it reliable and convenient.
• Eco-Friendly – You will save papers with DMS CMS since all the content organization and processing are handled digitally.
• Better security – with DMS CMS, all your confidential and private documents will always remain in safe hands without the risks of being exposed.

• WCMS – Web Content Management System

The WCMS CMS allows website users to manage all the site content even when they lack tech skills such as web programming or related languages.

The WCMS comes with admin, authoring, and collaboration tools that simplify digital content management activities.

One unique feature of WCMS CMS is that it handles only web content, contrary to other business CMS, which handles both print and web content.

The advantages of WCMS CMS include the following:

• Offers better scalability– With the WCMS platform, organizations can grow steadily without worrying about website boundaries or rather limits.
• Enhanced personalization– Users can easily tailor their website page according to their preferred design and layout when using WCMS CMS.
• Saves time with automation – WCMS CMS has tools to automate content publishing. This saves more time while enhancing workflows.

• CCMS – Component Content Management System

This CMS type organizes content granularly, contrary to the standard CMS applications. In other words, it manages components, i.e., photos, paragraphs, and words, by keeping them in a central point instead of managing content one page after the other.

The components are kept only once since this CMS type is tailored to reuse content to the maximum. It is more of a reliable and solid base for publishing content across diverse platforms such as PDF, mobile, and print.

The benefits of CCMS include the following:

• Single sourcing – you can easily send content to diverse platforms, be it chatbots, web, mobile, embedded help, and mobile, among many others, thus enhancing convenience.
• Saves time due to reusability – With CCMS, you will save more time since you can reuse content instead of writing, publishing, and editing new content. This also reduces a lot of related costs.
• Improved collaboration among teams— Your content development team can collaborate seamlessly with CCMS, even when working remotely.
• Traceability – it is easy to track content with CCMS, including reviewing who performed specific actions, when, and where exactly.

• LCMS – Learning Content Management System

This is a unique CMS tailored to accelerate educational content development, management, and delivery. It is a combination of content management functionalities with systems for learning management to enhance the delivery of corporate training programs, educational learning, and e-learning service providers.

The benefits of LCMS CMS include the following:

• Provision of personalized learning –With this CMS type, it is easy for users to create personalized learning platforms that align with individual learner’s requirements.
• Centralized repository –with LCMS, it is easy to keep all materials used for learning, such as videos, text images, interactive modules, and videos, in a central storage.
• Authoring tools – it is easy to design engaging and interactive educational content with authoring tools from LCMS CMS. Examples include simulations, assessments, and quizzes.
• Ease of LMS integration –It is easy to track individual learners’ progress with an LCMS CMS because you can integrate it with the learning management systems easily.

Note: For any organization looking for a seamless CMS that will scale their educational content and processes higher, then the LSMS content management system is the real deal. You can explore the available features to offer in-depth training to the departments and deliver a personalized learning experience.

• ECM – Enterprise Content Management System

This is a system or platform that gathers, organizes, and delivers all the content for an organization. They system ensures the correct audience gets the right information according to their roles and duties within an organization.

All members within an organization can easily access the relevant content required to complete projects and make relevant decisions. What’s more, this platform deletes files after a specific period of retaining them. This helps in saving space and ensuring only relevant content is available.

The benefits of ECM include the following:

• Saves on storage costs – the ECM keeps only crucial documents by deleting irrelevant files, thus saving on storage resources.
• Better flexibility– you can easily get any type of file from anywhere within an ECM CMS and then process and store it automatically. This offers a high level of flexibility and enhanced workflows.
• Better efficiency –you don’t need to worry about documentation in ECM. Instead, you simply focus on other activities that will enhance productivity.

• DAM – Digital Asset Management System

This type of CMS enables multiple users to process and manage digital content seamlessly. The platform has a simplified central storage library that enables all users, including contractors, employees, and clients access the content.

Being a cloud-based CMS, users can access digital content such as documents, videos, creative files, and audio files from anywhere.

The benefits of DAM include the following:

• Digital publishing – it is easy to publish digital content to other third-party service providers and social media platforms, among many others. Of course, this enhances the overall functionalities of a DAM CMS.
• Centralized storage facility – DAM CMS has a central space for storing and securing all the content.
• Better brand management – it is easy to monitor and manage a web portal with DAM CMS, thus enabling easy access by users.

Note: before you select an ideal CMS for your business, it is crucial to understand the different types as described above. This will enable you to understand a CMS that aligns with your business dealings.

For instance, a web content management system fits a business whose objectives include publishing content and embracing flexibility throughout content management processes.

Benefits or importance of adding CMS to an existing website

So, why would you need a CMS for your business? How with such a platform enhance the operations of your business dealings? Below are some top advantages of adding a CMS to an existing website.

• Simplified content creation

A CMS software simplifies content creation in diverse ways. Among the major ways through which CMS simplifies content creation include the following:

• WYSIWYG editing – the WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) principle enables you to review the appearance of your content on your website once you finish the processes of creating and editing it. This helps you create an appealing final product that aligns with your business goals. You don’t need to keep trying and changing or guessing the viable editing options.
• Interactive interface – Almost all CMS platforms have an easy-to-use and highly interactive interface. This makes it easy for any user to create and edit content without necessarily requiring coding skills and knowledge.
• Drag-and-Drop feature – most CMS comes with the drag-and-drop feature that enhances the process of adding diverse media elements such as forms, videos, and images to web pages. This also enables any user, even those without coding skills create visually appealing design components of a website.

• Seamless content management

Again, CMS platforms create an easy content management approach in the following ways:

• Improved workflow administration – CMS makes it easy to distinguish user roles and permissions whereby individual members focus on a defined aspect of content management processes. It can be publishing content, approving, or even creating content. This creates a smooth, collaborative content management environment for all teams involved.
• Centralized content storage – A CMS stores all your website content, including documents, videos, images, and texts, in a central storage, making the easily accessible and managed.
• Version control – the version control functionality that comes with most CMS helps users track and monitor all adjustments that have been made to website content from time to time. This makes it possible to adjust to the previous version should the need arise and create a smooth working environment with other teams.

• Enhanced user experience and SEO

Ways through which a CMS improves website SEO and overall user experience include the following:

• SEO Optimization – in most cases, CMS platforms come with built-in features and functionalities meant to optimize search engines for your content. Such tools range from those for managing title tags, meta descriptions, & image alt tags, which enhances SEO rankings.
• Responsive design – A good CMS can make a website highly responsive and adaptive to different devices with diverse screen sizes. This enables all types of users using different gadgets to access your website easily.
• Categorization and tagging of content – you can tag and categorize your content smoothly with a CMS. As a result, website visitors can easily search and find what they are looking for instantly, thus creating a better user experience.

• Better security & scalability

A CMS makes a website highly scalable with solid security measures through the following approaches:

• Consistently updating website security – a renowned CMS receives security updates from time to time to curb possible threats, thus ensuring your website is always protected against all forms of attacks.
• Scaling according to your needs – A CMS adjusts and scales according to your business growth. This allows you to tailor you’re your website to meet your changing business needs. In fact, many CMS have flexible plans with diverse add-ons and offer ultimate flexibility to expand your business with the changing requirements.

• Unlocking the Power of Content

It is easy to create, manage, and post interactive & informative content that resonates with your website visitors as long as you have a CMS. This will, in turn, create an interactive and user-friendly platform that will attract a large user base. In the end, your business will gain remarkable online visibility, thus a steady growth in the end.

• Document storage

Apart from just publishing content, a CMS creates a reliable storage facility for all the content within the system to be reviewed later. In fact, a CMS can store documents in different formats, including images or PDFs, to suit different user preferences. This, in turn, helps create a professional online reputation and build your brand to the next level.

• Instant updates

You don’t need specialized skills to explore CMS capabilities. As long as you have mastered the basics, you can always implement changes whenever a need arises. You don’t have to wait for requests to implement the necessary changes. This, in turn, creates an intuitive and user-friendly website.

• Anyone can update the site

A CMS comes with built-in features and functionalities that make it easy to edit & update content. As a result, anyone, including those with no technical skills and expertise, can make changes to the website as needed.

Again, with user roles, it becomes easy to assign team members with their respective roles, which creates a collaborative working environment where one team takes charge of adjusting the website setting, another team creates content, and another team focuses on content editing and such activities.

• Your website is customizable

While a CMS comes with many in-built features and functionalities, it doesn’t mean you are limited to the options available within the CMS. Most CMS have extensions, plugins, and add-ons that can help you adjust and tailor your website to your preferences.

In fact, some CMS allow API integration with other third-party platforms and services to enhance its overall functionality.

With this in mind, you can include all the features you desire in your website, making it align with your business dealings. For instance, you can add ecommerce functionality or marketing automation to your CMS to get the most out of your website.

Adding CMS to an existing website: step-by-step

So, you’ve realized adding content to your full-functional website is quite challenging, and you need to add a CMS to ease the process. However, you aren’t sure of where to begin and how to go about the entire process. Below is a step-by-step process you will need to follow to a achieve a seamless CMS integration to your website.

• Back up your website

Before you do any process, start by backing up your existing website. Of course, there could be human error, hacking trials, and server crashes when adding a CMS to an existing website. That is why you need to, first of all, back up your site for an easy recovery process in case such events happen.

• Choose a CMS platform

Next, you need to establish a viable CMS platform that aligns with your goals and business dealings. Different CMS platforms have diverse features, functionalities, benefits, and challenges.

It is upon you to take time to evaluate your technical skills, security requirements, budget, type of content, and design preferences before settling on a specific CMS platform. Don’t forget to review the compatibility aspect between your existing website, CMS, domain name, and hosting service.

Some of the common CMS platforms you can consider for your website include the following:

• Shopify for E-commerce – this is a common CMS platform commonly used for ecommerce types of websites. It comes with simplified tools for seamless management and online store creation.
• WordPress – Apparently, many website owners use the WordPress CMS platform thanks to its extensive collection of plugins, flexibility, and ease of use, among other benefits.
• Drupal – Drupal is known for its enhanced scalability, solid security measures, and enhanced functionalities that make it a reliable CMS platform.
• Joomla – With the Joomla CMS platform, you can explore diverse customization options and enhanced scalability, hence the reason why many developers prefer it for CMS services.
• Wix & Squarespace – They make a DIY website customization. Squarespace and Wix CMS platforms have ready-made, customizable templates and intuitive drag-and-drop functionality that enables those without technical skills and knowledge to use them seamlessly.

So, before you choose your ideal CMS platform, make sure you have a better understanding of each to choose one that will help you achieve your objectives without exhausting your budget.

• Export your existing content

Once you have a reliable CMS platform, you can plan and execute the process of moving the existing content from the website to the CMS.

The process you will use will vary depending on the CMS platform you initially selected. For instance, some CMS platforms have APIs that integrate into the website and move the content automatically. Again, some CMS platforms require manual processing where you simply copy and paste the content manually from the website to the CMS editor. Finally, some CMS come with in-built plugins and tools that enhance content importation from other sources.

Whatever method you choose, you should always prioritize a high level of accuracy and efficiency.

• Adjust your design and layout

Once you complete the process of moving the content, you need to adjust or modify the layout and design to align with your CMS. Again, the approach you use here depends on the CMS platform you choose.

Some CMS will require you to use programming languages such as CSS and HTML, among many others, while some CMS come with the drag and drop features that enhance the customization of the layout and design. Similarly, other CMS platforms have built-in templates and themes for easy customization processes.

The goal is to settle with a method that aligns with your website dealings while offering ultimate flexibility.

• Test and launch your new website

Next, you need to launch your modified website. But before then, you need to test it to ensure it is fully functional, meets SEO requirements, and is easy to use.

Don’t forget to check for missing images, keyword optimization, any errors, website responsiveness, broken links, and slow loading times.

Finally, this step is followed by backing up your new and old websites in case any bad occurrence emerges afterward.

With everything in place, you can now launch your new website that has a fully-integrated CMS software.

• Post-launch monitoring& team training

After launching, keep monitoring the website performance to track any possible issues as you resolve them timely.

Most importantly, launch a training program to educate your team members on effectiveness and how to use the CMS to enhance the overall performance and functionality of the website.

Conclusion

A content management system will take your website to the next level. The flexibility, collaborative nature, scalability, and solid security measures will ensure your website stays healthy always.

Above all, good, engaging content will enhance traffic and user engagement in your website. This, in turn, will accelerate your online visibility and enhance your business growth. So, if you haven’t integrated a CMS into your website, then you are missing out a lot. Our web development company – Aalpha Information System will help you overcome any challenges you might be facing regarding CMS integration to an existing website.